Rajesh Khanna And Chetan Anand Did Not Work Together For Years Due To This Reason

Filmmaker Ketan Anand, son of the late Chetan Anand, recently spoke up on how superstardom can sometimes become a burden rather than a blessing. To elaborate on his point, Ketan used Rajesh Khanna’s career as an example, describing how his father believed that success is far more difficult to navigate than failure.

On the Unheard Tales Podcast, Ketan shared, “Look what happened to Rajesh Khanna. He would have been a total legend in his own time, he was, for a few years. His first film was Aakhri Khat, with my father. He got his break with my father. My father always wanted new people.” Ketan recalled that as Rajesh Khanna rose to superstardom, Chetan Anand made a strategic decision not to collaborate with him, despite being continuously questioned

about it.

Ketan Anand On Rajesh Khanna’s Stardom

“When he became a big hit, dad was not working with him. People used to come to him and say, ‘Aapka hero hai, aap uske saath kaam kyun nahi karte?’ (He is your hero, why don’t you work with him?) Dad said, ‘I don’t work with stars, I work with actors. Jab usko zaroorat padegi woh wapas aayega (When he needs me, he will come back),” Ketan added.

Ketan Anand On The Making Of Kudrat

Years later, having experienced both the highs and lows of superstardom, Rajesh Khanna returned to collaborate with Chetan Anand. “And he did come back towards the end of his career. They did a film together called Kudrat. What a beautiful film that was,” Ketan added. Their film went on to win international acclaim and is today recognised as one of their best collaborations.

In a 1990 chat with Movie magazine, Rajesh Khanna himself spoke about his career setbacks. He said, “One after another, seven films had just flopped in a row. It was raining, pitch-dark, and up there alone on my terrace, I lost control. I yelled out, ‘Parvardigar, hum garibon ka itna sakht imtihan na le ki hum tere wajood ko inkar kar de’ (God, don’t test my patience to such an extent that I question your very existence).” He had stated, “It was because success hit me so much that I couldn’t take the failure.”